Mobile devices are increasingly popular tools for accessing a wide variety of services and information. With this increased popularity, thieves and other malicious individuals are increasingly attempting to steal and repurpose mobile devices. Traditional modes of securing mobile devices against these malicious entities may include securing the device with a password or other form of passcode to prevent unauthorized access. Such traditional security measures may manage illegitimate authentication attempts by wiping data on the device after a certain number of failed authentication attempts in order to protect user data from brute-force attacks.
Unfortunately, traditional security measures for mobile devices may wipe device data in an inappropriate scenario. For example, a mobile device may be configured with software that enables a legitimate user to track the device's location. Such tracking software and/or any other software installed on the device may be wiped by the device's security system, thus negating the user's ability to track down the mobile device or perform other remote functions that may aid in recovering the device. As an additional example, a young child may stumble across a mobile device and accidentally trigger a device wipe, despite not actually attempting to access the device with malicious intent. Moreover, traditional mobile device security generally does not allow for a “good Samaritan” to identify information that would assist in returning the device to its owner. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for managing illegitimate authentication attempts.